Google Glass is smash hit — with muggers and tech-rage brigade

GOOGLE Glass promises its wearers instant access to a world of virtual reality. But some early adopters of the latest wonder from Silicon Valley are finding that it can also draw them into a real world of muggers and privacy campaigners.

Google put the internet- connected spectacles on sale in America for one day only last week for $1,500 (£900), ahead of their general release in the country later this year.

Police warned those who snapped them up to watch out for muggers and also for members of a growing “tech rage” movement who have ripped the glasses from the faces of those who have been wearing them in public.

Glass arouses especially strong feelings in the Bay Area of San Francisco, where Google built the prototype in 2011: today’s version is more sleek but still lacks a “kill switch” or tracking device if it is stolen.